So I decided to make an attempt at Ranked Runs in FE7 (after having played this game for 16 years) to see if I could pull it off. I'm happy to say that I was able to S-Rank Lyn's Normal Mode and Hard Mode, but I felt like that was easy pickings, so I gave Eliwood Normal Mode a shot next. I've been meticulously planning everything with regards to Funds and Tactics rankings, so I stole every item I could, used only iron/steel weapons for 99% of the campaign, and cut down on turns wherever I could. I checked my in-progress ranking at the start of each chapter to make sure I was doing alright, and I have been getting 5 stars in each rank consistently.
Fast-forward to the final chapter. I check with Nils, and I still have 5-stars in all categories (save Funds, which is 4-star, but it's easy to make that up in the final map) and things are looking good. However, after finishing the final map and eagerly getting to the end of the epilogue so I can look at my Battle Data... I only have 4 stars in EXP. The entire time I never went below 5 stars in EXP, but at the very last map, I drop off down to 4.
At this point, I've tried going back and re-playing the final chapter to see if I can redeem my rank and walk away with 5-stars (I made a save-state at the start of the final chapter). I've tried four times now and I've been unsuccessful each time. I've even gone so far as to take out the six promoted spellcasters in the second half (the ones that are stuck in boxes with siege magic/staves) with Pent and a Bolting tome, but even that didn't put me over.
I'm pretty convinced that I'm screwed and I didn't feed enough EXP to lower-level units throughout the course of my playthrough and there's nothing I can do to save it. The final map requires 3500 EXP earned to get 5-stars, but I can't see how that's even possible - there are only 28 units that grant any EXP at all in both halves of the map, so even if I got a perfect 100 each kill, that still leaves me 700 short. I can use Nils' rings and staff abuse with a couple other folks for another couple hundred, but if I'm really that far off, I'm wondering if even that will be enough. Assuming that I'm right at the cusp of a 5-star average on EXP when I get to the final chapter, is it possible to squeak out what I need? FYI, I have about 10 extra turns I can throw away and still make 5-star Tactics rank, so if turting a bit is necessary, I can do that. I will also post my final chapter team and their levels if it helps. Thanks in advance!
Eliwood: Lv. 10 Knight Lord
Nils: Lv. 13 Bard
Lyn: Lv. 14 Blade Lord
Hector: Lv. 11 Great Lord
Kent: Lv. 14 Paladin
Rebecca: Lv. 10 Sniper
Fiora: Lv. 14 Falcoknight
Heath: Lv. 15 Wyvern Lord
Canas: Lv. 9 Druid
Pent: Lv. 10 Sage
Harken: Lv. 8 Hero
